Advising Contacts Distance Advising Even traditional institutions like USA employ distance learner techniques to communicate with students. Distance advising includes interacting with students by phone, listserv, chatrooms and bulletin boards, web sites, e-mail, fax and U.S. mail. Good advising at a distance begins with a good advisor who: • approaches advising as a holistic or developmental process • understands the importance of building a relationship with students • knows the resources of his/her institution and community • has the interest and skill to help a student develop an educational plan   Advisors must learn how to develop relationships with students without any "face-to-face" contact. In order to be successful with distance advising, advisors must develop these essential skills:     • communication skills - verbal and written skills • listening skills - cannot rely on nonverbal clues; must be an active listener • computer literacy - must have technological equality with students • ability to facilitate decision making - student must be encouraged to reach conclusions • being responsive to technological change - must have appropriate training and technical support   There are many benefits of advising distance learners:     • broadens the pool of students (recruitment vehicle) • provides flexibility and convenience • increases access to advising using multiple formats • increases student participation • accommodates diverse learning styles and preferred modes of interaction • extends available resources beyond physical campus boundaries • allows for thoughtful and personal responses to inquiries (asynchronous interaction)   There are also challenges in advising distance learners:     • legal   • ensuring confidentiality - you must determine you are communicating with the correct student - can use e-mail directories to verify any suspicious e-mail address - if still suspicious, require a face-to-face meeting   • FERPA - security of records - refer to the regulations on what information can be released   • access/ADA/students' abilities - must determine if student is able to use the technology before limiting contact to a certain medium • creating a bias-free environment (technology and access) may require the use of multiple technologies since students have differing levels of expertise and access to technology. • promoting professionalism in all correspondence • training staff in the use of efficient technologies and broadening their thinking about advising • using technology to track retention • helping students to overcome feelings of isolation from   • University   • classroom   • professor   • resources   Although there is no formal etiquette or protocol for how long one can wait to respond to a distance learner (whether the contact is an e-mail, a phone call, a fax, or a letter), some professional etiquette should be followed. Immediate response may not be feasible, but the turn around time should be minimal. Given a heavy load of inquiries by distance learners may result in having to set priorities for responding. Begin keeping track of how many e-mails, phone calls, letters, faxes, etc. are received in a semester and how much time it takes to answer these. Use this to justify blocking out "responding" times during the day or week. If this is not possible, develop a "canned" response to refer people to set up face-to-face meetings during times of overload. You need to have in place an automatic response system (either through voice mail or e-mail) telling students that you are unavailable until ________and that they should expect a response by _______.   The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) has developed an on-line advisor training module for advising students at a distance. The training module is available through the University of Southern Maine's web site http://www.usm.maine.edu/asd.